Since the conception of garments such as panty undergarments, continuing efforts have been made to enhance the stability of the garment on the wearer's body during movements of the wearer's body such as standing, sitting, walking or running, and, bending movements of the wearer's body.
Dominantly, such efforts have been directed to and have been successful in their objective of minimizing riding-up of the garment, or lateral twisting of the garment, or ruckling and puckering of the garment fabric, and, rolling-over of the garment waistband.
While such efforts have had the desirable result of enhancing the garment stability on the body of the wearer, those efforts also have resulted in increased discomfort to the wearer caused by the garment. For example, control of movement of the garment commonly has been effected by increasing the resistance to stretch of the garment fabric in certain directions, including the incorporation of reinforcements and rigidifying panels into the undergarment. Such reinforcements, in addition to causing an increase in discomfort to the wearer of the garment, commonly result in an increase in the manufacturing cost of the garment, particularly in the event that reinforcing panels are to be appliqued onto or sewn into the garment. In that event, the joins between the garment and the respective panels constitute a further source of discomfort to the wearer of the garment.
Attempts to control riding-up of the crotch of the garment invariably have had the opposite effect of promoting ride-down of the body of the garment, particularly at the waistband.
Typically, attempts to control riding-up of the garment have involved increasing the resistance to stretch the garment in the medial plane that includes the crotch of the garment, such attempts resulting in tensioning of the crotch and its tendency to ride up into the crotch area.
This particular problem is specific to a panty garment, and does not arise, for example, in panty hose. In a panty hose, the leg portions of the garment act to stress the panty section in a downwards direction, thus to provide a counteracting force that stabilizes the crotch against crotch ride-up.
Attempts to control lateral twisting invariably have resorted to reinforcing panels and/or to side seaming to provide a separation zone between the front and rear panels or sections of the garment. Reinforcing panels while being partially successful in controlling lateral twisting of the garment on the wearer's body, are faced with the problem that if unintended relative movement between the garment and the wearer's body does occur, then, the ultimate result is a reverse twisting of the garment on the wearer's body.
Riding down of the garment at the waistband typically produces ruckling or puckering of the body of the undergarment, which then presents an unsightly appearance in the wearer's overgarment, ruckling of the undergarment tending to show through the wearer's overgarment during movements of the wearer's body.
Further, stretching movements of the wearer's body and the subsequent relaxation thereof, and bending movements of the wearer's body have the tendency to cause rolling-over of the waistband of the garment. In attempts to control such rolling over of the waistband, woven elastic material having appreciable lateral stability has been employed, as has the incorporation into the waistband of stays formed from a relatively rigid and inflexible material. The use of woven elastic constitutes a source of discomfort to the wearer of the garment in that it can press into the wearer's flesh leaving unsightly trench marks. The incorporation of stays into the waistband similarly can cause discomfort to the wearer of the garment, particularly during bending movements of the wearer's body.
Optimally, and in direct opposition to the known efforts to control the movement of the garment relative to the wearer's body, the garment should possess the same characteristics of stretchability and contraction as that of the wearer's skin. If the garment is free to move in unison with movements of the wearer's skin, then, the garment in effect becomes a second skin which has full freedom of movement and which obviates relative movement between the garment and the user's skin. If that relationship can be preserved, then, the resulting undergarment can be expected to be one which provides an unexpected degree of comfort in the wearing thereof with a complete freedom from chafing and trenching such as is commonly caused by the undergarments of the prior art.
It is known in the art, for example, from Pernick U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,479 issued Jul. 28th, 1987, to form a panty garment on a circular knitting machine in such a manner that side seams are eliminated. In addition Pernick teaches the providing of a welted waistband, the leading edge of which subsequently is knitted into a succeeding course of the garment blank. It is also known from Pernick U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,479 to knit crotch portions of the garment integrally with the body portion thereof, the crotch of the garment subsequently being assembled by stitching together of the crotch portions.
Pernick's teachings, thus, result in both frontal and posterior seaming of the crotch portion, the frontal seaming of the crotch being one which is most likely to cause irritation and discomfort to the wearer.